Arts & Culture | Black Lives Matter
Lucy Gellman Photos.
The Arts Council of Greater New Haven stands for justice and liberation of Black and Brown people in our community. We condemn police brutality of any kind. We also recognize the specific anti-Blackness on which this country and many of its enduring arts institutions were built. That violence has defined the last week of our lives, but it has also defined the last 400 years.
We cannot, in good conscience, be silent any longer. We hope many of our colleagues and members will do the same.
This week, we mourn for not only George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade, but also Mubarak Soulemane, Anthony Vega, Jose Soto, Malik Jones, and the tens of other Black lives the state of Connecticut has lost to police violence. We mourn 400 years of white violence against Black and Brown bodies, before which came white violence against Indigenous bodies. We support protestors and movement builders who are leading this fight.
We are a white-led, predominantly white organization serving a sector that benefits enormously from white privilege. We have an ongoing commitment to antiracism and also a deep debt to pay specifically to artists of color in our region.
The artists and arts institutions in our community must not only join in the fight against police brutality, but also white supremacy itself. Silence or indifference fuels the oppression.
We challenge and invite you to rethink what true diversity, transformative equity, and radical inclusion looks like in your offices, classrooms, studios, and on your stages. Even, and especially now, during the coronavirus pandemic, your creativity, resources, and power are needed to imagine a future where our Black and Brown sisters and brothers are truly free.
Here are a few of our favorite local resources. This list is by no means exhaustive.